2015 MLB Draft Details Announced

Major League Baseball will hold day one of the 2015 MLB Draft on Monday, June 8th at MLB Network’s Studio 42 in Secaucus, New Jersey. This year’s Draft, which marks the 50th anniversary of the event, will begin live on MLB Network and MLB.com at 7:00 p.m. (ET). Prior to the start of the Draft, MLB Network will air a Draft preview show, also simulcast on MLB.com, at 6:00 p.m. (ET).

The selection order of the First-Year Player Draft is determined by the reverse order of finish at the close of the previous championship season. The Arizona Diamondbacks will have the first overall selection of the 2015 Draft, marking the second time in Club history that they hold the top selection. The D-backs also held the first overall pick in 2005, when they selected All-Star outfielder Justin Upton.

Ten Clubs – the Houston Astros (2nd and 5th), the Colorado Rockies (3rd and 27th), the Atlanta Braves (14th and 28th), the New York Yankees (16thand 30th), the San Francisco Giants (18th and 31st), the Pittsburgh Pirates (19th and 32nd), the Kansas City Royals (21st and 33rd), the Detroit Tigers (22ndand 34th), the Los Angeles Dodgers (24th and 35th) and the Baltimore Orioles (25th and 36th) – have two selections in the first round. The Braves have a Major League-high five selections within the first 75 picks during the opening day of the Draft.

The Draft will once again feature Competitive Balance rounds, which were agreed upon as a part of the 2012-2016 Basic Agreement between MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association. The Competitive Balance rounds give Clubs with the lowest revenues and in the smallest markets the opportunity to obtain additional draft picks through a lottery, which was held last July. The 10 Clubs with the lowest revenues and the 10 Clubs in the smallest markets were entered into a lottery for the six selections immediately following the first round of the First-Year Player Draft (picks 37-42). The eligible Clubs that did not receive one of the six selections after the first round, and all other payee Clubs under the Revenue Sharing Plan, were entered into a second lottery for the six picks immediately following the second round of the Draft (picks 71-75; encompassing five selections this year after Boston forfeited its pick, which was originally obtained via trade from Oakland).

The Draft will have 40 rounds, and a Club may pass on its selection in any round and not forfeit its right to participate in other rounds. The 2015 Draft will span three days as it has since 2009. For day one on June 8th, MLB Network and MLB.com will provide live pick-by-pick coverage during the first round, Competitive Balance Round A, the second round and Competitive Balance Round B. For the first time, a flexible time interval will be used during round one. The intervals between selections during round one will last between three-and-a-half to four-and-a-half minutes. There will be one-minute intervals between selections during Competitive Balance Round A, the second round and Competitive Balance Round B. The Draft will resume at 1:00 p.m. (ET) on Tuesday, June 9th, when selections will be made for rounds 3-10, with one minute intervals between selections. Day three of the Draft on Wednesday, June 10th will begin at 12:00 p.m. (ET), featuring picks in rounds 11-40, with no time delay between selections.

Beginning with the Draft preview show at 6:00 p.m. ET, MLB Network’s live coverage will feature news, analysis, interviews with Club front office personnel and representatives, footage from Club draft rooms, and features and interviews with prospects and newly drafted players. MLB Network’s Greg Amsinger, Peter Gammons, Dan O’Dowd, Harold Reynolds and MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo will anchor the live coverage with contributions from MLB Network’s Scott Braun, Darryl Hamilton, Al Leiter, Pedro Martinez, Dan Plesac, Bill Ripken, Sam Ryan, John Smoltz, Tom Verducci and Matt Yallof, as well as Jim Callis of MLB.com and John Manuel of Baseball America.

MLB.com will begin its exclusive live programming of the Draft’s final two days with a live draft show from its New York studios at 12:30 p.m.(ET) on June 9th, followed by a live pick-by-pick stream and draft and scouting expert commentary from Mayo and Callis. It also will provide Draft Tracker, a live interactive application that includes a searchable database of more than 1,500 draft-eligible players with statistics, scouting reports and video highlights. On Twitter, the official Draft Twitter account, @MLBDraft, will provide up-to-the-moment updates and commentary while @MLBDraftTracker will tweet all picks as they are made.

Each of the 30 Major League Clubs will be represented at the Draft by one of its former players and/or a member of its front office. Last year’s representatives included Hall of Famers Andre Dawson, Fergie Jenkins, Tommy Lasorda and Tony Perez; Cy Young Award winners Chris Carpenter, Randy Jones and Frank Viola; and Ivan Rodriguez, the 1999 AL Most Valuable Player. The Club representatives who will attend the 2015 Draft will be announced in the weeks ahead. In addition to the Club representatives, seven players chosen on day one of the Draft last year were in attendance, including five players selected in the first round.

Please see the accompanying file for the complete order of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft (order remains unofficial until June 8th).

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